


Always Will Be

by Elizabethrzg



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: (If you know Skybound Then You Know What This Refers Too), 5 times 1 time, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Love, Canonical Character Death, Cole and Jay are QPPs, Found Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Violence, Jay Walker Angst, Jay Walker Needs a Hug, No Beta We Die Like Nadakhan Should, One Shot, Past Character Death, Past Torture, Post-Season/Series 06, Scars, Season/Series 06 Spoilers, Season/Series 07, Season/Series 07 Spoilers, Season/Series 08, Season/Series 08 Spoilers, Season/Series 09, Season/Series 09 Spoilers, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29950434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elizabethrzg/pseuds/Elizabethrzg
Summary: The 5 Times Jay Could Hide His Trauma and The 1 Time He Couldn't
Relationships: Cole & Jay Walker, Cole & Jay Walker (Ninjago), Cole & Kai & Jay Walker & Zane, Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Jay Walker & Zane, Cole & Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Nya & Jay Walker & Zane, Jay Walker & Sensei Wu, Jay Walker & Zane, Kai & Jay Walker, Lloyd Garmadon & Jay Walker, Lloyd Garmadon & Kai & Jay Walker & Zane, Nya & Jay Walker
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	Always Will Be

Jay, if he was being honest, hadn’t been the same since Nadakhan. How could he be? After everything he went through. He never told anyone though. Not even Nya, she didn't have to know about his torture, but it did resurface from time to time.

“Cole! Seriously! Watch where you’re throwing those things!” Jay yelled at him, hiding his fear and worry in his voice

“It’s out of my hands! Aaaahhh!!” Cole yelled back as he stumbles back

“It IS your hands!”

_Imagine if he had them when he hurt you on the ship?_

Jay shook that thought away. He didn’t need or want to focus on that right now.

“I’m still trying to get used to them!”

“Okay, how about you get used to them in _their_ direction!”

Not a second after he said that Cole grabbed a Vermillion Warrior and threw them, unfortunately for Jay, he was right in the line of fire. The Vermillion hit Jay right in the chest and sent him flying and landed hard into a dumpster. It was _incredibly_ painful. It didn’t help that he had been hit directly where one of his biggest scars was.

“Jay!” Cole ran over to the dumpster.

The two overheard those Vermillion Generals talking but didn't pay much attention, Jay was in too much pain and Cole was worried about his platonic-partner.

“Are you okay?”

“I guess…?” Jay lied, he was in quite the bit of pain.

“Then Hurry, Jay. Get out of there”

“Just…” Memories from his time on the ship welled up inside him, “...don’t hurt me…”

Cole gave him a confused look as the lightning master got out of the dumpster. Jay never elaborated on why he said that.

* * *

Jay was frustrated, as were the others of course, being stranded was _never_ fun, but the last time he didn’t have communication with others-

No. He wasn’t going to go down that road right now. Distracting himself with repairs helped well enough. He wasn’t going to think about that. _He wasn’t-_

A growl came from the forest.

Jay’s stomach dropped, he remembered back then, back when the others made him go collect the venom. How without that book of Cliff Gordon’s _awful_ dating advice, he’d probably be dead. How Cole told him to let the Tiger Widow bite him. How-

He was brought out of his memories by Cole’s voice, “What do you think that was?”

Kai shrugged it off, “Probably some cute little critter-”

“Or a big critter,” Jay cut Kai off, “A great big critter with lots of teeth and fangs and pinchers-”

_Like the Tiger Widow._

“You can’t tell all that from how it sounds,” Cole said, raising an eyebrow

_Shit._ Jay had to cover his tail and fast, “Oh yeah? If you listen real carefully-”

Lucky for him, before Cole or Kai could question him again, Zane asked, “Did you guys say something?”

Thankfully for him that changed the subject. And Cole and Kai didn’t even remember to later come back to that and question him.

* * *

The Ninja, Pixal, and Wu barged into the Commissioner's Office.

“Commissioner!”

“So good to see you!”

“There's no time to lose!”

“Sorry to barge in but it's really quite urgent!”

“We have to vacate the city!”

“We need weapons! Lots and lots and lots of weapons!”

“Crabby!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” He stood up, “One at a time. Just shoot it to me straight. What's gonna do me in?”

“Pardon? Do you in?” Pixal asked, confused.

“Every time something bad happens to the city, the first thing they do is can the police commissioner. So what is it this time? Subterranean mutant insects? Indomitable flesh-eating zombies? A pirate genie?”

Now it was Cole’s turn to raise an eyebrow, “Pirate… Genie?”

“Sure, why not? Anything can happen in this crazy town.”

Nya looked at Jay with a knowing smile, Jay smiled back and shared it. But deep down inside him, knowing who The Commissioner was referring to, his stomach began to twist.

Nadakhan. The Djinn who was responsible for a hefty amount of Jay’s trauma. The reason Jay has so many scars. The man who forced Jay to be so exhausted he could barely move. That he couldn’t even create his elemental dragon and the person who is responsible for putting Nya through so much too- He quickly shook his head away from all of those memories, he could dwell on them later. Not now. Not when Lloyd was counting on them all.

“Argh, don't be ridiculous! It's the Sons of Garmadon!”

He wasn’t going to think about his issues right now, especially when Lloyd was dealing with a much bigger one. They needed to worry about him right.

* * *

“Okay. Let's see if it works” Zane said trying to get their radio to work

“Say we're lucky enough to reach someone in Ninjago. After everything that's happened, is there even a home to go back to?” Cole asked, raising an eyebrow

“One way to find out. Here goes nothing,” Kai turns it on

_………_

_Nothing._

“And that sounds like nothing.”

“UGH! We're never getting home!” Kai groaned

“So it doesn't work. I'm telling you guys, I've been feeling so much better now that I've accepted our situation. This is our new home.”

“You don't sound like yourself, Jay,” Cole said, looking at the other, full of worry

“I'm just saying you don't have to freak out about it. Heh. It could be worse,” Jay chuckled to himself.

_This is so much easier then the last time I was separated from the others. And I’m not even all alone here_

“Worse? Worse!? A strange tea lady just marooned us in the Realm of Oni and Dragon. A realm, mind you, we know nothing about, with no hope of getting home, and now clue as to what else is out there!”

_Oh if only you knew. At least we’re not being tortured! Or beaten! Or anything else!_

“Uh, Oni and Dragons, duh?”

“Sure, Jay. We've all seen Dragons. But aren't you the least bit concerned about coming across an Oni? I mean, we hardly know anything about them.”

“Except that they like to destroy, and Master Wu is part one.” Zane pointed out

“I’m hungry,” The young master said

Cole and Wu then had a conversation about how they had to ration their food and Jay laughed, “Ah, man!”

Kai turned to Jay, yelling in worry, “You not freaking out is freaking me out!”

“Kai, baby, it's much easier coping with life's problems when you let go of hope!” Jay slinged his arm around Kai, _I don’t need to be strong and keep hopeful for anyone’s sake anymore, i can just let go for a bit_ , “Whoo-hoo! Hey, turn up that music. That's my butter and jam. Yeah-ha!”

“Yeah-ah! He's totally lost it,” Cole laughed, filled with worry

“Nope. I've totally found it,” Jay claimed, smiling to himself.

_I don’t need to worry or have hope, I can just let go of myself. It’s not like I’ll be tortured or forced to fight deadly pirates. I can afford to just... lose myself a bit._

* * *

Zane looked around, “Their entire culture appears to be built around the hunting of Dragons and exploiting their Elemental Powers.”

“Then it's a good thing we kept our identities secret,” Kai nodded

“Ah! Welcome to the Dead's End! May I have your parts when you expire?” A random hunter asked

Said random hunter got a glare from Kai, before he turned back to the way they were walking, “At least we know what to call this dump. But what do you make of this "Slab?" And what's "the Pit?"

“Duh. It's most likely an arena. A brutal tradition but exciting nonetheless. I for one can't wait!” Jay was smiling.

Deep down inside remembered Scrap N’ Tap. He remembered how that was. That’s how he knows what this is like.Deep down that reminder ate at him.

Kai had a seriously worried expression, “This isn't good, Jay. It's bad. And it's only gonna get worse.”

“Aw, lighten up. We're in an exotic realm, discovering new cultures, meeting interesting people-”

“People who wanna kill us, Jay!”

“Oh, boy,” Zane sighed, “I believe Jay's mental state has made him useless to our plight”

They were thrown into the arena, and Kai yelled back, “Easy! Watch the hair!”

“May the Pit swallow you whole!”

“Oh, ho, ho! Out of the frying pan and into the fire!” Jay chuckles, “Can this get any better?”

“Can you get any more nuts?” Kai yelled

“Well, Jay may have a point. As far as pits go, I have detected worse.”

Laughter emerged, “Oh, oh, oh, haha! Now, this ain't the Pit.”

“Uh, who are you?”

Jay gasped, “It's Slab!”

“No, no, no, not Slab. I'm Chew Toy. Nice to meet ya! Three of ya? Haha! Oh, this'll be a good show. Real good. Haha!” As they enter the arena, he says, “Now that...That's the Pit.”

“Haha! Let's do this. Hahaha!”

“You still don't want us to use our powers?”

“You've seen how they treat the Dragons. What do you suppose they'll do to us?”

Kai sighed, “Good point.”

Chew Toy smiled, “Can you hear that? Mm! They're cheering for us, fellas! Let's give 'em what they want!”

“I've spent my whole life wanting to see the true face of an Oni. And now I get to see three. I hope Slab can wipe the smirks off those dirty shapeshifters.”

“Chew Toy! Chew Toy! Chew Toy! Chew Toy! Chew Toy! Chew Toy! Chew Toy! Chew Toy!”

“I can't hear you! Hahah!”

Kai gaped, “Is everyone in this place crazy?”

“Hehe. That man is a born entertainer! Are you seeing these moves?”

“Now, listen, fellas, don't you go down in the first few seconds. Watch out for Slab's breath. It can bury you. If you know what I mean. Hey, and if Slab ever gets you cornered, best not fight it. Just play dead. He'll get bored eventually.”

“Ah!” Kai jumped, and pointed at the dragon before them, “I'm gonna go with that's Slab.”

Jay: And here I thought we were at rock bottom. This is so much worse.

“So Slab is a Dragon. I thought Dragons were our friends?” Kai asked

“In Dead's End, no one is our friend,” Zane deadpanned

“Dead's End. Ha!” Jay giggled, “I get it. This is where we're gonna-”

“I get it, Jay!” Kai snaps, “Could you at least try to be helpful?”

“Ooh! Wowee-wow! You Oni have really got Slab fired up,” Chew-Toy Laughs, “I've never seen him this angry!”

“For the last time, we are not Oni!” Kai yelled

“Yeah, well, Dragons hate Oni. If it's not you, something else has really got his blood boiling,” He pointed out a few moments later and ran out with his bell, “Ding-a-ling-a-ling!”

“Open the gates! Reveal the Oni!”

Slab is released into the arena and roars.

“Nice! Haha!” Jay laughed

Kai: Still don't wanna use our powers?

“We have befriended Dragons before. This one should be no different,” Slab tossed Chew-Toy out of the arena. He dropped his bell and Jay ran towards it.

“Haha! It's ours!” Jay laughed

_This **won’t** be like Scrap N’ Tap._

“What are you doing?!” Kai questioned

“If I'm going out, I'm going out with bells on!” Jay declared as Slab began to attack them

“See? Slab knows. Slab can smell Oni blood. Change for us, Oni! Show us your ugly faces!”

“A little help? Huh? A sword? A shield? We're defenseless down here!” Weapons that were useless to them were thrown down, and Kai glared, “Really? Guys, how do we get outta here alive?”

“The sooner you realize we can't, the more fun it'll be~!” Jay sung a bit

_This is what I should have done during Scrap N’ Tap, then Nadakhan couldn’t have used it against me._

“We need to find a way to subdue it.”

“There's nothing but rock and sand. If you want me to hold it with my bare hands, just ask.”

“I do not believe that is possible.”

“I was being sarcastic!”

Zane ends up talking to Cole who was in a disguise, they were too far away from Jay for him to hear, but soon some chains were down there with them. Using those chains Kai and Zane tied down Slab. Jay then cheered that they won, he’d _never_ won in an arena type-fighting thing. Or been part of the winning side.

_“The loser doesn’t tap out, only the winner does,”_ The familiar voice of the Djinn rang in the back of his head

“This time I’m part of the winners, Nadakhan,” he muttered under his breath, not realizing he was close to being hit

“Jay!” Kai yelled

Zane’s motherly instincts sprung into actions and he froze Slab before he could hurt Jay.

Jay stumbled back in shock as Kai began to prepare his fire.

_I almost **died.**_

_I could’ve **died** right there… **but Zane didn’t let me.**_

_They **all** could’ve **died** right there. _

_I almost let my brothers **die**._

_I have my brothers to worry about, why did I let go of that again?_

_Oh. Right. **Memories.** _

As Jay was lost in thought they were beginning to be surrounded, Jay heard the voices of his two brothers talking bringing him out of his thoughts.

“I count ten.”

“There are fifteen.”

“Yeah, well, you were always better with math,” Kai shrugged before turning to Jay, “You with us, Jay?”

“We're totally outnumbered! They have weapons and we don't! I haven't eaten all day! Not to mention showered in a week! Do you see there are kids in this audience!? This level of violence is far too much for them to handle! Let alone me!”

Zane smiled a little, “He's back to normal”

Kai did as well, “Good,” he helped Jay up and got back into position as Jay joined them, “Now that our secret's out, let's lay down some heat!”

They attacked as much and fast as they could. In the end they were captured. But they never did question Jay on why he acted the way he had been for the past week.

* * *

They were out of the Dragon hunter camp and around a campfire. It was decent out, the sun, or whatever it was in the first realm that determined the difference between night and day, was setting, and Zane was checking the others from whatever injuries they might have.

He had already checked all of them, well all but one. Jay, he was the last person who he needed to check. Zane turned to the lightning ninja, “Jay, I need to scan you for injuries.”

Jay paled, and sputtered, “I-I don’t have any!”

Zane raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure about that?”

“Yup! Absolutely!”

“I _highly_ doubt that Jay. You almost were buried by Slab. You went in headfirst then. And Kai and I both had substantial injuries, I need to check you for them as well.”

“I’m _fine_ Zane! I swear! No injuries here! HAHAHA!” He nervously laughed

Zane gave him a look of disbelief, “Jay my apologies, but if you don’t have injuries why is your heart rate accelerating?”

“Be-” He looked around, “Because! It’s freaking me out that you think I have anything wrong see?! It’s me! And I say I’m fine!”

Zane gave him a pointed look, “Well if you really are ‘ _fine_ ’ then it should be okay for me to scan you. Plus it is for your own safety.”

“Come on dude, what do you have against him scanning you?” Cole asked, “We all need to be in top shape for whatever we deal with next, don’t we?”

“I um…” He sighed, “You aren’t gonna believe me on me being fine without a scan are you?”

Zane shook his head. Jay sighed, he knew better than to argue with Zane over stuff like this. Zane scanned him and then looked at the results and looked back at Jay concerned.

“Uh… Zane?”

“ ...Jay,” He looked at the information again, “My scans say that these injuries are not from Slab, The Hunters, any recent, or even earlier fights… Where did you get this badly injured?”

Jay paled, “Wh-Whaaaaaa? What do you _mean_ they aren't from any recent fights? PFT-” He chuckled nervously, “Of _COURSE_ they are!”

“Jay. They are not. My scans cannot be incorrect.” Zane deadpanned, “Plus we’ve never fought anyone who uses a whip. And you have whip marks on your back.”

Jay sunk back.

_**Please** Stop Talking Zane, oh god, **please** don't bring up the-_

“And,” He gave a worried glare, “ _those burns_. They are not from anyone we have fought. They are Elemental,” hearing this Kai looked up and listened more closely, “and Kai has never physically hurt you. And you never fought Skylor when she was using Kai’s power as far as I know.”

Kai nodded at what Zane said and was worried himself.

Jay looked around for a way to avoid talking about this, “Well- _Well!_ Zane. I am _**telling**_ you! These-They’re nothing okay? No need to worry. Let’s just drop it.”

“‘No _need_ to worry’?!” Kai burst out, “Jay! Someone used my elemental power _against_ you! I don’t know _who_ but if I _**ever**_ get my hands on them. They’ll be-” a roar of a dragon was heard super loudly for a second, “-sorry.”

“Someone hurt you _badly_ , Jay,” Cole added on, “Tell us, we can help you.”

Jay turned away.

“Please brother,” Zane asked, “tell us, we want to do what what we can to help.”

_You can't_ _You can't_ _You can't_ _You can't_ _**You can't**_ **_You can't_ _You can't You can't! You can't! YOU CANT! YOU CAN-_**

“Jay… please.”

“Please explain to us brother. We want to help you. You need to tell someone, you cannot hold it in. How did you get these? Who hurt you so badly?”

“Yeah, please tell us what happened? It can’t be as bad as your head is making it seem-”

As soon as Kai said that, Jay snapped with tears in his eyes and lightning crackling from his body, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?! THAT I WAS TORTURED BADLY?! THAT I WAS FORCED TO FIGHT FOR MY LIFE IN AN ARENA? THAT I WAS STARVED?! THAT IM BLIND IN ONE EYE?! THAT YOU ALL WERE USED TO TORTURE ME?! THAT I NEARLY BROKE?! THAT I DID ALL THAT TO PROTECT NYA AND YOU ALL?! THAT IT WAS HELL AND YOU ALL DIED FOR A BIT AND THAT NYA LITERALLY DIED IN MY ARMS?! THAT NO ONE BUT ME AND NYA REMEMBER THAT ANY OF THIS HAPPENED?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?!”

His three brothers and the young Wu, stood there silently, none of them knew what to say.

It took Jay a second to realize what he had done, he just told them everything. Sure it was in a short yell, but now they knew, “I-I uhhh… I-”

“Jay…” Zane tried to reach out to comfort his younger brother or something, but instead, Jay stormed off, not wanting to confront or talk to anyone about it at the moment.

Thankfully for him, when he returned, they didn't make him talk about it. He hoped they wouldn’t address it for a long while, or maybe they would forget about addressing it completely and he wouldn’t have to talk about it again.

* * *

That hope was short lived. After they had returned and everything with the Sons of Garmadon was settled, they had a bit of time for themselves. But the others hadn’t forgotten, apparently they’d told Lloyd and Nya too.

One of the mornings after they had got back he woke up with everyone in his room.

“Jay we need to talk,” Cole started

Jay chuckled nervously, “About Whaaaaat?”

“You know very well about what,” Kai said with a worried glare.

Jay sunk back a bit.

“Jay it is okay, you can tell us. We already know about it now. We want to do what we can for you.”

“Is there a chance I can opt out of this conversation?” Jay smiled nervously

“No!” Everyone yelled at him

He chucked to himself, “Figures…” he took a deep breath, “Okay, fine.”

He explained what he went through, not going into too much detail, but more or less the basics, by the time he was finished, Nya was hugging him, Zane had a look of fear that could be done to his _little brother_ , Lloyd looked terrified that Jay went through that, Wu was as well.

Cole and Kai on the other hand both had pure rage in their eyes.

“Where’s this-” noise of something falling outside, must have been one of the Monks, “-’s lamp. I want to set it on fire and melt for what he did.”

“Let me pound it in first Kai,” Cole punched the wall, “I can’t _**believe**_ that bastard did that to you Jay!”

“...Jay I am so sorry for pushing you back in The First Realm, I shouldn’t have. I was just so worried,” He hugged his brother, “And if I ever see that Djinn or his lamp I _**will**_ freeze it so he can't move or escape.”

“Jay… that sounds like so much… I can't even begin to imagine what that's like for you.. I’m so sorry,” Lloyd somberly added

Wu nodded, “Jay, I’m going to put in some anti-Djinn measures in place. Just in case.”

“Jay… I’m so sorry… I had no clue he did that to you… I knew it had to be bad… but I had no idea… I’m so sorry,” Nya was close to crying

“It’s…. Okay… I didn't want you to know… or anyone else too.”

_But… things might be easier now that they knew._

They loved Jay and he knew it and this showed it.

He’s glad his family has always been there for him.

And he’s glad that they always will be.

**Author's Note:**

> This au was big brained up by me along with the help of two other wonderful friends, and some of the dialouge was inspired by them and our conversations abt this au!


End file.
